


certain as the sun rising in the east

by jolybird



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Minor Enjolras/Grantaire, Minor Joly/Bossuet Laigle/Musichetta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 12:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10490577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolybird/pseuds/jolybird
Summary: Courfeyrac walked into the back room of the Musain through the back employees only door. Dinner with his sisters had been cut slightly short by a text from Bahorel that read only:Emergency. At Musain. Come immediately.Honestly, Courfeyrac couldn't even think about what kind of emergency Bahorel was having so he just concentrated on getting to his friend as quickly as possible. He might be hurt or he could have found a new favorite beer, the odds--and his track record--were about even. The back room was filled with his friends and the waitstaff of the Musain who were crowded around something on a table. Bossuet and Grantaire looked positively gleeful and that calmed Courfeyrac down considerably: Grantaire was the most squeamish of them all.He went to ask what the hell was going on when Joly burst into the room behind him with a, “what the hell do you mean you have sole custody of a baby?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this forEVER. It was originally started for [rare pair week](http://lesmisrarepairs.tumblr.com/) but it's finally finished now. 
> 
> The title's because I finished writing this to the beauty and the beast soundtrack (1991, 2017 AND Broadway) and it does tie into a certain scene.

Courfeyrac walked into the back room of the Musain through the back employees only door. Dinner with his sisters had been cut slightly short (it was okay: they wanted to go out for ice cream anyway) by a text from Bahorel that read only:  _ Emergency. At Musain. Come immediately.  _

Honestly, Courfeyrac couldn't even think about what kind of emergency Bahorel was having so he just concentrated on getting to his friend as quickly as possible. He might be hurt or he could have found a new favorite beer, the odds--and his track record--were about even. He could only hope if he _did_ have a gash in his chest again, he at least went to the hospital first this time. Please let him have, at the very least, learned  _ that  _ lesson. Madame Houcheloup still had his picture behind the counter with  _ DO NOT SERVE  _ and  _ BANNED _ written across it. 

The back room was filled with his friends and the waitstaff of the Musain who were crowded around something on a table. Bossuet and Grantaire looked positively gleeful and that calmed Courfeyrac down considerably: Grantaire was the most squeamish of them all. 

He went to ask what the hell was going on when Joly burst into the room behind him with a, “what the hell do you mean you have sole custody of a baby?”

Courfeyrac found Bahorel staring at the two of them, his expression a bizarre mix of alarm, guilt and overwhelmed exhaustion. He shrugged it all off and ran a hand through his hair, “it just sort of happened? Alica showed up at work this morning and honestly I didn't even remember her name? It was one night over a year ago and I didn't think anything of it? Until she tracked me down and gave me this baby. If I didn't take her she was going to give her up so she could be put in foster care and I couldn't do that? Because I  _ can  _ support a kid, and she’s fucking mine so...” 

“This is the first time he actually remembered her name.” Feuilly said, his head propped up by his fist, he looked ready to fall asleep right there. “We’ve had three group cries already today, in case you all were wondering.” 

“He took off of work to help me with all the paperwork and everything.” Bahorel smiled, nudging his friend a little. 

“He’s lucky he has me.” Feuilly deadpanned. 

“Holy fuck--” Courfeyrac gasped, his friends words catching up with him and then raced to where Matelote, Gibelote and Jehan were crowded around a table, they stepped away and Courfeyrac gave a little scream when he saw the tiny child in the carrier. She was so impossibly  _ small.  _

The baby woke up and immediately began screaming. Jehan stepped back violently as if she were explosive and Courfeyrac swooped in and picked her up. He rocked her back and forth as she screamed and he turned to Bahorel who watched him with a half wary, half grateful expression, “what’s her name?”

“Lilou.”

“Like... _ The Fifth Element _ ?”

Bahorel opened his mouth, shut it, and then shrugged, “I don't know, Alica named her and I don't know her well enough.”

Someone was snickering and Bossuet was definitely quoting the movie under his breath but Courfeyrac ignored them to focus on the tiny screaming bundle of blankets in his arms. 

“Shhh…..” Courfeyrac cooed, rocking the tiny thing gently. Jehan put a hand on his shoulder and watched as she clenched her hands into fists and screamed. Courfeyrac glanced to Jehan, he still looked vaguely terrified but his lips were starting to turn up in a small smile. Sometimes it was so easy to tell which of his friends hadn't grown up surrounded by babies like he had.  


Bahorel mumbled something that sounded defeated but when Courfeyrac glanced in his direction, he was looking at him with some vague shade of intensity. 

“Oh my goodness.” Jehan whispered as she started to settle. 

“Yo, how the  _ fuck _ did you just do that?” Bahorel demanded so roughly, he thought she was going to start wailing again.  

“I just bounced her for a bit? I think I scared her?” He grimaced guiltily, “I didn't mean too, sorry.” 

“No--” Bahorel said, a little wildly, “don’t apologize. We haven’t managed to get her to stop once today.” Feuilly nodded and sighed in agreement, slipping down in his chair a little more. Jehan glanced to him, his smile widening at the sight of their friend near-asleep. 

Courfeyrac shrugged as he put her back down in the carrier, “Well she’s your kid so how can you expect her to do what anyone asks.”

Bahorel sat back down roughly, jostling the cups on the table next to him. “I have to tell my parents.” 

Surprisingly, it was Enjolras who couldn’t contain his laugh and Bahorel nearly fell from his chair when he leaned away from him, offended. 

Courfeyrac smiled and turned back to the tiny infant, “How old is she?” 

“Six weeks.” Grantaire piped up and despite himself Courfeyrac’s eyes went wide. 

“She’s so tiny.” 

“If you mean young then yes, if you’re about to make fun of how small she is compared to me, that joke’s banned. If you wanted to say it, you should have gotten here sooner.” 

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes, “do you have a crib and everything for her?” 

Bahorel shook his head but it was Combeferre who said, “we’re going to go tomorrow morning.” 

“Carole and Eva are right around the corner and Carole will be more than happy to give you Soph’s old crib. Maman made sure it was top of the line and it's still in her attic--” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, I’ll call them right now. 

From there things got a little crazy. Carole and Eva were both oddly strictly business, they expressions were carefully civil and, honestly, Courfeyrac didn’t know what had happened. They had been laughing at dinner but now, they were a bit cold towards him. They gave Bahorel pointers and tips and a couple baby books that Soph had outgrown. Combeferre had somehow managed to get himself volunteered to get the crib (and assorted newborn things Soph no longer needed) and he was acting off as well. Courfeyrac tailed behind them, holding the carrier when they needed Bahorel’s help to load things in the car or carry them upstairs. 

Soph was absolutely  _ thrilled _ to meet Lilou, although he had to explain three times she wasn't another new cousin (two more of Courfeyrac's sisters had had babies in the past two years so he couldn't really blame her for thinking all new babies were related to her). Bahorel was actually the one to get her to stop throwing a fit when she realized she wasn't going with them all to Bahorel’s apartment by promising she could visit and then dutifully told her his address, phone number and name. Soph scribbled it all down, taped it up on her wall and then forced Courfeyrac to write it all down as well ‘so mama could read it’. 

Everyone else had gone home and left them to their late night outing and when he texted Jehan to ask if everything was okay with Combeferre he texted back  _ there could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison. _ Which he  _ knew _ was an Austen quote and meant Jehan, for whatever reason, refused to otherwise comment. Was Combeferre in love? He was his best friend and he should probably know these things. He didn’t know if he could simultaneously deal with Combeferre having relationship trouble  _ and _ Bahorel being a father so he mostly just busied himself with putting the smaller things away and showing Bahorel how to change her without making her scream quite so much.

Courfeyrac caught his sisters and Combeferre whispering together after they had the crib set up in Bahorel’s room and honestly he didn’t know what sort of conspiracy they had going already. By the time they had everything settled, it was almost midnight and all Courfeyrac wanted to do was to go to bed. 

He abandoned Combeferre and his sisters to their gossip and went to find Bahorel. Lilou was asleep in her new crib and Bahorel was sitting on the edge of his bed, just staring at her. He had a one bedroom apartment and had nearly cried once already when he realized he’d have to move.

“You alright?” He leaned on the wall just inside the door, his voice low so he didn’t startle Lilou or Bahorel. 

Bahorel sighed, “just overwhelmed. I don’t know if I’d be more upset if I woke up tomorrow and this was all a dream or it wasn’t.” 

“It changes everything but we’re all here for you. Just take things one day at a time and we’ll all be right there with you through everything.” 

Bahorel looked away from the baby to Courfeyrac and smiled. With a sigh, he stood and then he hugged him a bit desperately. Courfeyrac just hugged him back. This morning they were all different people and now...they’d have to be more careful with l’ABC, Bahorel would have to miss meetings, events. There’d be birthdays and Christmas and first steps and  _ school _ . Courfeyrac was overwhelmed and she wasn’t even his. 

“Thank you.” Bahorel sighed when he finally let go. 

“Of course. We’re all here for you.” Courfeyrac put on his warmest smile, trying to hide the growing panic in his chest. 

Bahorel nodded, looking a bit distracted, “Okay, you all should get out of here it’s late.” 

“Oh--are you going to be alright?” 

“We’ve got to get used to each other so we might as well jump right in.” 

Courfeyrac hugged him again, made him promise he’d call if there was any problem and then he was ushered out with his sisters and Combeferre. They didn’t say anything to him and he didn’t know if he was relieved or if that just made him more worried. 

In between work and school and planning a book drive with the library, Courfeyrac was kept busy over the next couple of days. He stopped in to see Bahorel and Lilou when he could (aka at least twice a day) and showed Bahorel several times the finer points of changing diapers (he was starting to think he was feigning ignorance just so someone else would do it but it wasn’t a problem if he needed a break so he didn’t know why Bahorel would lie about that). Their group chat had turned into Lilou’s own personal fanboard and Courfeyrac could tell who was with them by who was sending the most pictures. She was probably the most adorable baby Courfeyrac had ever seen and he didn’t know if that was rude to his own family or not.  

Courfeyrac showed up about three days after Lilou arrived with a bag full of toddler Halloween costumes he had picked out for the tiny thing to wear. Musichetta, who was sitting with Lilou as she helped look for doctors, frowned because she knew  _ he  _ knew they wouldn’t fit by the time Halloween actually rolled around but Bahorel had laughed and immediately changed her into a little Batman onesie. 

Courfeyrac had seen him every day since Lilou came into their lives and, honestly, he didn’t know if was a good thing or a really terrible one. 

At least he had the baby to distract him from the thoughts nagging at the back of his mind. He'd been through this enough that he could keep Bahorel from panicking over anything. 

Bahorel nearly cried again when he looked through all the tiny costumes for the third time and Courfeyrac sent him off for a nap immediately after they put them away in the little dresser Bossuet and Musichetta had gifted him at some point. It was almost comical next to Bahorel’s (honestly, at the rate they were all going, Bahorel was going to be forced to put his things in the small one). 

Musichetta, with papers spread out all over the living room, didn’t even look up when he walked out of the bedroom, “could you clean a bit? I think there’s some dishes in the sink.” 

Courfeyrac nodded and headed to do that, “how’s the doctor search?” 

“I think I have it all figured out but I’m going to have Joly look over it for me when I get home. I think he knows most of the pediatricians in the area personally” 

Nodding again, even though she couldn’t see him, Courfeyrac started washing the dishes. He didn’t know exactly how much time he passed just focusing on scrubbing but eventually Musichetta came in to help dry. 

“Has he called his parent’s yet?” 

She shook her head, “I don’t think he wants them to know until he has it under control.” 

“I don’t know if you can have it under control when it comes to kids.” 

Musichetta laughed and rolled her eyes, “I think Feuilly’s thinking about calling them for him. It’s stressing him out, not having his parents know, remember how it was when he dropped out of school?” 

“At least now he can’t blackout in the Louvre.” 

Musichetta shut her eyes, pressed her lips together and shook her head--that rescue mission had actually been the first time she met him, “Will you talk to him later? He’ll listen to you.” Courfeyrac laughed so she nudged him, “ _ he will _ !”

Bahorel hadn’t emerged by the time Courfeyrac had to leave for class and so he just spent five minutes saying goodbye to Lilou and then left as Marius walked in, holding a box of diapers looking like he thought he had the wrong address. Courfeyrac had to nudge him because the apartment didn't look _that_ different.   


 

* * *

Bahorel had texted him while he was in class, complaining that he was starving and, honestly he could order in if he didn’t want to take Lilou out because ‘Joly said she shouldn’t be out in public until she’s at least two months’ (Joly had immediately protested he didn’t mean lock her up but Bahorel said he wasn’t taking chances and he already sent Courfeyrac to everyone’s homes with vitamin C and warnings that if they got Lilou sick he was going to kill them. Combeferre had dissolved his in a shot of rum and downed it without breaking eye contact and Courfeyrac was pretty sure he was Stressing his friend Out but he didn’t have time to think about what he was doing wrong). Nevertheless, Courfeyrac went straight to get something to eat after class and brought it to Bahorel’s apartment.  

Bahorel waved for him to put the food on the table and to take the money that was laying there but didn’t otherwise look away from where he was trying to build a swing. Courfeyrac dropped the food and then went to find Lilou in the bedroom. Éponine smiled at him and he sat on the bed, watching Éponine change her. He wasn't getting involved in the mess in the living room.  


There was silence for  _ maybe _ a minute and then she spoke, her voice quiet like she was afraid to be overheard,  “I have three significantly younger brothers, you know. You’re not actually the only one with baby experience.” 

Courfeyrac blushed despite himself, knowing perfectly well what she was insinuating. 

She just tilted her head to the side and went in for the kill, “but I’m not the one he calls, am I?” 

“What does that mean?” 

She shrugged, snapping the buttons on Lilou’s Wonder Woman onesie up, “Nothing. It just means I’m not the one he calls.” 

“Have you been hanging out with Combeferre.” 

She sent him a glance he couldn’t decipher and picked Lilou up, “He’s worried about you.” 

“Worried? Why--” 

The front door opened, slammed shut, and then Gavroche was shouting, “Well? Where is she?” 

Éponine sighed, “he’s skipping tutoring again. Can you text ‘ferre and tell him he’s with us?”

“Yeah, of course.” Courfeyrac pulled out his phone as they walked into the living room. 

Gavroche’s eyes lit up when he saw her then turned to Bahorel who was still elbow deep in trying to put the swing together. “Wow,” he laughed, “you really fucked up.” 

“Language!” Bahorel, Éponine,  _ and _ Courfeyrac chorused and Gavroche’s mouth dropped open for a moment. 

Then he shook his head and muttered, “ _ Parents _ .” 

Bahorel quickly busied himself with rereading directions, Courfeyrac darted into the kitchen, and Éponine laughed as she ordered him to sit and instructed him on how to hold his arms so he could hold her. Courfeyrac left shortly after dinner because Éponine  _ had _ pretty much raised her brothers on her own and he had a paper to finish. He made sure to take at least twenty pictures of Gavroche and Lilou before he left though.   


 

* * *

His phone kept ringing and so Courfeyrac blindly reached for it and answered without lifting his head from his pillow.  

“Hello?”

“Courfeyrac, please, I’m dying.” Bahorel groaned and he pushed the covers off of him. He could hear Lilou screaming in the background and there was someone else there too, he could hear frantic whispering and half-hearted attempts at song. 

“Is that...Feuilly?” he asked, squinting around his dark bedroom, trying to remember where he had thrown his shirt when he had climbed into bed. 

“Grantaire. He’s the closest. He’s crying too. We’re all crying.”

Grantaire and Feuilly lived together but he just laughed at the overexaggerated desperation as he pulled on some clothes and the first pair of flip flops he found, “hold on I'm on my way.” 

It was only a couple blocks to Bahorel’s apartment so he just booked it there, pulling his coat around him tight and pretending he could still feel his feet. Why did he even have flip flops within reach in the middle of winter? He knew himself, he knew he wouldn’t think about outside temperature when he was in a rush. He had set himself up for frostbite and he was playing right into it. 

The door was unlocked when he got there and Bahorel all but threw Lilou into his arms. Courfeyrac smiled at him and Bahorel immediately went into the other room. He waved at Grantaire as he took her into the bedroom, trying to drag his feet to regain feeling in his toes. He trusted the two of them to have made sure she was fed and didn’t need to be changed and so he just rocked her back and forth a little bit in the dark. 

In the living room, Bahorel and Grantaire were both silent. Bahorel had reemerged once Courfeyrac had gone into the bedroom and hopefully it wasn’t to hide how tired and frustrated he was. Courfeyrac frowned at the door, wondering if he’d have to calm Bahorel down after his daughter. He hummed a little and, eventually, Lilou started to settle. When her tears ceased, Bahorel made some sort of strangled noise in the living room and Grantaire laughed. Courfeyrac rocked her gently for a couple minutes more and then, once he was sure she was asleep, he tucked her back into her crib. 

“She’s asleep?” Bahorel whispered when he walked into the living room and his friend immediately jumped up to go check on her. 

“I think she was stressed you were stressed.” 

Bahorel shot him a tired glare from the doorway and hissed, “I was stressed because  _ she  _ was!” 

“Take it up with her.” laughing, Courfeyrac went into the kitchen and turned the kettle on. Bahorel didn’t seem  _ too _ upset and would probably feel better after a cup of chamomile. 

Grantaire leaned against the table and frowned, “don't hurt yourself. You can tell him no.”

He jumped at his sudden appearance and for a moment, Courfeyrac thought about saying nothing but that wouldn’t accomplish anything so he went with logic, “I’ve grown up taking care of babies, I’m the oldest of seven and Viv’s three now so there’s always been babies around and Soph’s nearly two--there was nearly no break between siblings and nieces. Plus, that’s not including all my cousins and  _ their  _ kids. I might have spent one or two Christmases without a kid on my hip and that’s it.”

He pretended to shudder, “sometimes I don't remember your family makes up half the population of Toulouse  _ and  _ you’re slowly starting to take over Paris as well.”

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes, “are you crashing here or heading home?” 

“Crashing here, Feuilly has someone over and their moans sounded a little familiar so I don't want to go back tonight.”

The kettle went off but Courfeyrac paused as he searched the cabinet for tea, “What does that mean? Familiar like what?”

“Like we’re going to have a very eye opening day soon.”

“I bet it’s Enjolras.” Courfeyrac whispered and then grinned sheepishly as Grantaire glared at him. “Right.”

“Leave my boyfriend out of my roommate’s sex life.”

“Was it Combeferre? Jehan?” he asked, pulling a box out and making the three of them some tea. 

“It sounded like one of them.”

“Which one!” Courfeyrac hissed, hypersensitive of being too loud and waking the baby. If it was Combeferre he was going to have to talk to him about being a hypocrite. But it would have explained Jehan’s text. The kettle was abandoned in his hand and so Grantaire took it from him and finished pouring. 

“I don't think you should be worrying about other people’s relationships right now.” 

With narrowed eyes he asked, “What else am I supposed to be doing?” 

“I don't know, maybe worrying about your own?” 

“Why are we worrying about Courfeyrac’s love life?” Bahorel asked, suddenly behind the both of them. 

“What the fuck.” Courfeyrac gasped, hand on his chest. 

“Why do you always have to eavesdrop?”

“Come on, I was there to help with R’s.”

“I didn't ask for your help.” Grantaire’s voice went high and Courfeyrac laughed even though when they “helped” Grantaire and Enjolras get together Feuilly had  _ actually  _ almost died. 

The three drank their tea while quietly arguing over who’s fault Feuilly’s near death experience had been and when Courfeyrac woke up in the morning with Lilou on his chest and Bahorel laughing with his phone out, he really didn’t mind it all that much. 

He was so fucked. 

He was doing his best to ignore the feelings that were clamoring to be acknowledged but it was such a losing battle. 

The next day Bahorel called him when he was on his way over. Combeferre was starting to give him knowing looks because of his frequent visits but whatever. He had a couple minutes to spare before dinner. 

“I need you here,” he said without preamble.  

“Is Lilou okay?” 

“I’m calling my parents and, honestly, I don’t know what I’m fucking going to say.” 

Courfeyrac laughed but ran up the step to his apartment and Bahorel actually had the nerve to look at him like he could have gotten there faster. He had called him less than two minutes ago, sorry he couldn’t  _ apparate _ . “On a scale of ‘you broke your arm’ to ‘you’re dropping out’, where are you?” 

“That’s the thing, Courf, I don’t know. I have no idea how they’re going to take it.” he caught him looking around the apartment for the baby and so he added, “she’s down for a nap.” 

“Best to get it over with.” 

Bahorel mimicked him but picked up his phone and dialed. He had it on speaker, as if he wanted Courfeyrac to chime in or silently coach him and his mother answered almost immediately, “Bonjour, mon nounours.” 

“Maman,” he said so stiffly that Courfeyrac kicked him. He had tripped coming out of the starting gate. 

“Is everything alright? Are you hurt?” 

“I have a baby.” he blurted out and Courfeyrac had to put his head in his hands.

“You found a baby?”

“No,  _ I  _ have a baby.”

“You’re having a baby?” she asked faintly and something crashed on the other end of the line, like someone had dropped something across the room from her. 

“ _ Have _ . Her name’s Lilou and she’s almost seven weeks.” 

His mother hung up. 

“Holy shit.” Bahorel whispered as he stared at his phone in horror. He was six foot whatever, he’d been boxing since he was small, Courfeyrac watched him pick up fifty pound bags of flour and one one occasion, both Joly and his wheelchair like it was  _ nothing _ but he looked terrifyingly small in that moment. Courfeyrac reached out to him but was interrupted by a selfie of Bahorel and his mother appearing on the screen. Courfeyrac answered it for him. 

Both of Bahorel’s parents were crowded in view. “Where is she?” 

“Napping?” 

Courfeyrac didn’t know what Bahorel was thinking and if his tone was any indication, he didn’t either. He handed Bahorel the phone and shoved him from the couch. Bahorel went into his room and Courfeyrac busied himself with cleaning up. It somehow became his default over the past couple days.  He turned the coffee on and ordered dinner while Bahorel spoke to his parents. By the time they finally hung up, Courfeyrac had left and come back with dinner and was looking for something to watch on Netflix. 

“Holy shit I love you.” Bahorel whispered, seeing the food stretched out in front of him on the coffee table. He handed Courfeyrac Lilou and went into the kitchen to make her a bottle. He was disgustingly proud of how good he was at it already. Courfeyrac put her in her swing, ignoring the feelings swirling around in his chest and continued to click through the movies. He was just about to settle on Resident Evil when Bahorel came out with the bottle and hissed, “she can’t watch that, she’s a month old.” 

“She can’t--” Courfeyrac started but Bahorel glared and so he settled with Stardust. 

“This is your favorite movie you can’t settle with your favorite movie.” Bahorel told him when he complained and then handed him both the baby and the bottle so he had first pick at the food. Courfeyrac just leaned back and ignored him. 

A couple minutes into the movie, Bahorel seemed to take pity on him and shoved a forkful of broccoli at his face. Courfeyrac just let him feed him, and honestly, he was going to be the death of him. 

“My parents are flying from Pau Pyrénées in the morning. Their plane is supposed to land around eleven.” 

“That’s good.” Courfeyrac said as best he could as he chewed the broccoli. Bahorel sort of huffed over his pad shea eue and so Courfeyrac swallowed and turned to him, careful not to jostle Lilou, “it’s okay you know, if you’re not really ready for everything to change. It--”

Bahorel stuffed another piece of broccoli in his mouth. Courfeyrac ate it and then continued, this time his voice a little softer.  

“You can talk to me you know.” 

Bahorel ate a bite of his dinner and then looked to the TV, “that’s why I called you but having you here was reassurance enough.” 

Courfeyrac smiled and Bahorel echoed it before he stabbed another piece of broccoli. “Can I at least have a dumpling?” Courfeyrac tried to pout through his smile and whatever his face actually did made Bahorel laugh again. But he got the dumpling. 

Stardust turned into The Princess Bride which turned into Y Tu Mama Tambien and by the time they set Lilou down for the night, Courfeyrac just slept on the couch. He’d have to be there in the morning anyway to watch Lilou while Bahorel picked his parents up (they’d argued about  _ that  _ for a full quarter of The Princess Bride and Courfeyrac didn't know if he should overanalyze it or not). 

Courfeyrac really just wanted to stare at the ceiling all night and replay Bahorel’s words in his mind all night-- _ having you here was reassurance enough _ \--what they  _ hell _ did he mean by that? Unfortunately, Lilou had other plans. 

She woke them with her screaming every two hours, nearly on the dot. The first time Courfeyrac offered to change her so Bahorel didn’t have to get out of bed (he could feel him watching him anyway) and the second Bahorel had dumped her and a bottle onto Courfeyrac and stumbled back out of the room. The third time she just wanted to scream and the fourth time she wouldn’t stop. 

“At least try to make a good first impression on your--holy  _ fuck-- _ grandparents.” Bahorel told her as he rocked her a little, walking in circles in front of Courfeyrac who was starting to fall back asleep even with her wailing. He was too old for all nighters. “Courfeyrac, my parents are grandparents.” 

“You’re a father.” Courfeyrac said without opening his eyes. 

“I have to go sit down.” he said and Courfeyrac didn’t even open his eye when he handed her off. Instinctively, Courfeyrac took her, careful of her head. After making sure she was safe in his arms, Bahorel shot off towards the kitchen, “I’m going to make tea.” 

Courfeyrac just gave her his finger and she grabbed onto him as she cried. He tilted his head back and gave her a couple minutes. By the time Bahorel returned, probably with tea but Courfeyrac wasn’t opening his eyes to see, she had quieted. 

“What the fuck she’s smiling at you.” 

Courfeyrac’s eyes shot open and  _ yeah _ , she was totally smiling at him. He smiled back and then looked to Bahorel who just shook his head, “Joly’s going to kill you he tried so hard to make her smile the other day.” 

“Guess I’m her favorite,” he yawned despite himself. 

Bahorel put the two cups of tea down on the table in front of him and sat down next to him, “ _ yeah _ that might be her first smile.” 

“Really?” He should probably react more but, while he was absolutely thrilled, he was also using all his strength to just stay awake. He’d react later, once he got some sleep. He should probably get a picture to send Joly too.  

Bahorel smiled and shrugged, leaning back into the couch, his shoulder brushing Courfeyrac’s. He hadn’t looked away from Lilou’s smile yet and so Courfeyrac stayed perfectly still so he wouldn’t ruin the moment. 

“Okay, so I have to tell you something.” Bahorel said, still not looking away from her. 

Courfeyrac leaned back ever so slightly to rest his head against the couch. He stared in front of him, wondering how Bahorel did this every night. The sun started to rise above the horizon, casting the apartment in a pale blue glow. “Okay.” 

“So,” he began, looking at Courfeyrac “The thing is. I have romantic feelings for you.” 

Courfeyrac nodded, put his hand on Bahorel’s knee and squeezed it encouragingly, “Cool, cool,” he yawned, “Me too.” 

“Really?” Bahorel finally looked away from Lilou and, some things sort of made sense now: the weird, guilty looks he had sent him over the last couple of days, why he called him and no one else.

Courfeyrac rested his head on Bahorel’s shoulder and closed his eyes, “Yeah. The others warned me not to get too close because they didn’t want me to get hurt but...I’m glad I’m not going to get hurt.” 

“Me too.” 

They sat like that for several more moments and then Bahorel took Lilou to lay her back down. Courfeyrac was asleep before she was in the crib. 

 

* * *

Courfeyrac shot awake, saw the now-cold cup of tea, and his and Bahorel’s early morning confession rang loud in his memory. He had to get out, he had to figure out what had just happened and he had to get--

Lilou wailed suddenly from the other room and Courfeyrac stumbled off the couch to get to her. He slipped into Bahorel’s room and scooped the tiny girl up in his arms, rocking her gently as he took her from the room so they wouldn’t wake Bahorel. 

“Do you want breakfast? Is it breakfast time?” he asked, walking into the kitchen. He nearly screamed when he saw Bahorel leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee in his hand. “What are you doing?” 

“Freaking out.” He confessed, completely stone-faced. 

Okay so they were  _ doing this _ . 

Unless. Unless he was freaking out about his parents who would be here in a couple hours. That was more reasonable.   


“Have you slept yet?”

“I woke up maybe five minutes ago. I made a pot of coffee, here, I’ll feed her.” 

Courfeyrac handed her over, their hands brushing and Bahorel was looking at his face but Courfeyrac just went and poured some coffee. He almost wanted to drink it black just so he could get the most caffeine in his system. 

Bahorel leaned against the counter feeding Lilou while looking lost in thought and so Courfeyrac just leaned against the counter as well, sipping his coffee so they both had an excuse for silence. 

If they had had that conversation a week, two weeks ago...would that make any sort of difference. Would they have started dating? Would they have broken up when Lilou arrived? Would things be exactly the same except for Bahorel introducing him to his parents as his boyfriend? Did he even want to date him? What had he meant  _ romantic feelings _ ? It was so specific and so vague at the same time. 

Courfeyrac poured himself another cup of coffee and turned to get some eggs from the fridge, “is an omelette okay?” 

Bahorel hummed a little in agreement and then went wandering out to the living room as he fed Lilou. Courfeyrac could hear him rummaging around the apartment as he made breakfast. Which was good. Breakfast was good. He could certainly make omelettes.

Once he finished stuffing them with spinach, peppers, onion and cheese, he carried them out to the living room where Bahorel had Lilou in her swing. He was scowling at the news on the TV but beamed when he saw breakfast.

If it turned out that Bahorel wasn’t eating and was confusing romantic attraction with Courfeyrac being the only reason he was eating, honestly, he might believe it. He’d have to orchestrate with the others to make sure he wasn’t skipping meals. Although with his parents here, he probably wouldn't have to worry much at all.   


“Oh, I need a favor.” Bahorel said in a way that made Courfeyrac wonder what he was currently doing. “Enjolras called my baby ugly so I need you to find an ugly baby picture of him.” 

He knew Bahorel was exaggerating, but nodded anyway, “How young do you want it?” 

“The important thing is that he looks like a gremlin.” 

“I’ll get Arianne on it.” 

“Thanks, make sure you include a picture of Lilou so she knows the severity of his offense.” 

“Of course.” He pulled out his phone to text Enjolras’ mother, ignoring the several texts from Combeferre and Feuilly wondering where he was and then informing him that Bahorel told them he was with him. 

Next to him, Bahorel leaned back and finished his omelette, his side resting against Courfeyrac. As Courfeyrac sent the text and slowly finished his own breakfast, Bahorel shut his eyes, probably trying to catch an extra couple seconds of sleep. 

Honestly, he was planning on letting him get an extra half hour but the moment he moved, Bahorel opened his eyes and took the dishes from him. Courfeyrac followed him into the kitchen. 

Bahorel all but dropped the dishes in the sink and then turned to him, somehow looking as if he had both lost and won a fight, “So about last night.” 

Oh god, here they were. “We were a bit delirious with exhaustion.” 

“No that’s not what I…” Sighing, Bahorel grabbed Courfeyrac’s face, gently, so he could pull away if he wanted, and kissed him soundly. 

Courfeyrac smiled into the kiss,  _ this _ , at least, didn't scare him. Bahorel laughed and pulled him closer. 

“Well okay, that answers that.” Courfeyrac breathed when they finally pulled apart several long moments later. 

“We have incredibly awful timing.” 

Laughing, Courfeyrac shrugged, “well, at least your parents aren’t here yet.” 

"I want you to know I like you in a highly inappropriate way and we're going to have a talk as soon as we have a moment." 

Courfeyrac pulled him back and kissed him again, Bahorel's hands were tight on his hips, "I look forward to it." 

He sighed, “okay, well I should straighten up a bit and I guess my parents are going to have to take the couch? Unless they want to take the bed and sleep next to my new alarm clock.” 

Courfeyrac went to step away but Bahorel's hands on him kept him close, “Do you have extra sheets?” 

“Shit, I should call--” he mumbled and then he went to grab his phone. “You can grab a shower now if you want?” 

Glancing to the clock, he saw that now was his only chance. He headed towards the bathroom but Bahorel caught him.  He kissed him again, unable to stop smiling and Courfeyrac felt like they had been doing this forever. He probably deserved all the teasing he got.  

“You have some clothes in the bedroom.” 

Courfeyrac frowned, looking up at him, “What do you mean I have clothes in the bedroom?” 

“I think they’re yours? From when we stayed at Joly’s parents’ beach house and you stuffed some clothes in my bag?” 

Courfeyrac gave a small cry--he had gone on a small shopping spree when he lost his bag and then when he found it again, he didn’t have room for both his old and new clothes--and went to look for them. 

“Bottom drawer!” 

Courfeyrac frowned at the offending drawer, between the kiss, the declaration and now the drawer, he was starting to feel like he had been missing the obvious for longer than he realized, “Why the fuck did you put my clothes in your dresser?” 

“You’re over here enough, I figured it’d come in handy. Plus you know, forethought for this.” He waved his hand, indicating the space between them.

Courfeyrac mimicked him and was hit with a pillow from the couch when he went to jump in the shower. He had a thing of conditioner and a toothbrush in there and honestly he didn’t even know when that happened. Maybe the thing between them had actually been going on for longer than he thought. He did stay over here a lot after they went out drinking. Bahorel  _ did _ have a key to his flat, even if it's because he stole one of Marius’ spares. When he got out, Combeferre and Cosette were over. Courfeyrac took a deep breath because things were different again. He wasn’t afraid of change, not in the slightest but still, it was a lot to get used to and he hadn’t quite found stable footing yet. 

“Morning!” Cosette smiled, kissing him on the cheek. 

“Do you live here now?” Combeferre’s voice was deadpanned and Courfeyrac really didn’t want to get into it now, not with Bahorel leaving to get his parents in a few minutes.

Courfeyrac shrugged it off, keeping it light, “Someone has to do the dishes.” 

“Oh can you?” Bahorel called from the bedroom. 

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows in a  _ look what you did _ gesture at Combeferre as he put his hands on his hips, “Do you want some coffee for the road?” 

“Please!” 

Combeferre obviously wanted to say something about the exchange but he just turned and went into the kitchen. Courfeyrac followed him, digging a travel mug that was probably Enjolras’ (he kept leaving them everywhere and was constantly buying more) and making some coffee. 

Bahorel finished getting ready so loudly, he fully expected Lilou to start wailing at any moment. But, maybe thanks to some minor saint or deity, she didn't stir. As Courfeyrac passed her with her father’s coffee, she was just watching everything serenely. She was probably going to have cousins sooner rather than later and, holy shit at that thought. Cosette and Marius would make adorable parents. Too bad the wedding was still over a year away, it would have been nice for Lilou to know someone in her class. Maybe he should look up a story time at the library for Bahorel to take her to. Maybe l’ABC should sponsor one. 

Bahorel looked like he wanted to question the expression on his face but thankfully he didn't. He’d probably piss Cosette off (she and Marius had a Plan™) and Combeferre would laugh at him. 

“Drive safe!” Cosette called from the bedroom as Courfeyrac handed him the mug.

Bahorel smiled, thought about it, and then kissed his cheek, “Thanks.”

Courfeyrac just smiled as he turned and went out the door. He watched the door for a moment because  _ fuck _ that had been really domestic but when he turned around no one seemed to think it weird. Maybe things weren’t quite as different as he thought, maybe the change from friends to  _ more _ wasn’t that big after all. 

Cosette emerged from the bedroom in a determined fury that put Combeferre and him to shame. He followed her into the kitchen to where Combeferre was filling up the pitcher with water. 

“Okay, I picked up some pastries--Musichetta says hi--you have the coffee made...maybe I should…” Cosette dug through the cabinets looking for something that probably wasn’t there: they were looking a little empty. 

“Are you making a grocery list?” Combeferre’s voice was flat and Courfeyrac flinched and had to turn away from him to hide his guilt. 

“To be fair, we usually do our shopping together anyway.” 

“Do you?” Cosette turned, giving up on her scavenger hunt after tossing two dusty boxes of biscuits that probably had early 2010’s dates. 

“Yeah, Wednesdays after the gym.” 

Cosette nodded, “Oh cute,” and then she went out into the living room to wrestle sheets onto the pull out. He could tell by the sound of cushions flying. 

Combeferre didn’t say anything for a long moment and Courfeyrac poured himself another cup of coffee. 

“‘Ferre?” Cosette called and he went to go help her with the sheets. Courfeyrac did nothing but sip his drink in silence. He had a nagging feeling that Bahorel’s parents would attract at least some of their friends. Feuilly and Grantaire in particular loved them. Maybe he should think about what he could make for dinner? He could call someone to run to the store for him. Enjolras’ office was close enough that he could run out on his lunch break. 

A couple minutes later Combeferre walked back in with Lilou in his arms and Courfeyrac just watched the two of them. 

“You alright?” Combeferre asked, and Courfeyrac said absolutely nothing for a long moment. Combeferre shifted Lilou and looked at him evenly. “What happened?” 

Running a hand through his hair, Courfeyrac answered by turning his back and washing some dishes. Either because she was evesdropping or because of coincidence, Cosette walked back into the kitchen. 

“Something’s wrong.” Combeferre told her. 

“They’re on their way back, we don’t have time for things to go wrong.” 

A wave of completely unexpected panic washed over him, that had been so  _ quick _ , he thought he had more time. 

He could stay quiet and keep it to himself, or he could tell them everything and let them talk some sense into him. He knew he was being a bit ridiculous. “Last night I accidentally told him I--and I’m being completely serious--okay so first--and this is--I’m not kidding--five? In the morning. And he goes--with the baby smiling--I have romantic feelings for you. Word for word, that’s what he says.” 

Combeferre kept quiet but Cosette lit up and leaned forward, “And? What did you say?” 

Courfeyrac faulted a moment and they glanced to each other in concern, “Cool. Me too.” 

“ _ Courfeyrac _ .” Combeferre laughed, frowning. 

“It was five in the morning.” he hissed desperately. 

“And?” Cosette pressed on, ignoring the frown on Combeferre’s face. 

“And we talked and kissed this morning once we got some more sleep and he could introduce me to his parents as his boyfriend because that’s not outside the realm of possibility!” 

“You’ll be fine.” 

“They’ll be focused on their granddaughter.” 

The force of their words pushed most of the panic from him, “Yeah. That’s true. And I mean, we didn’t get to talk about anything yet so. Right now it’s just a kiss and some romantic feelings and 'we have to talk when we get the chance'” he tipped his head back and sighed, “we just have shitty timing.” 

“Tell me about it. Your sisters have been calling me every day asking about you. Your mother called me on Wednesday.” 

Courfeyrac turned to Combeferre so sharply, both of them laughed, “Maman called you?” 

“Aww.” Cosette smiled, “that’s adorable.” 

“No, it’s not. I can’t believe I’ve been so obvious.” 

Cosette reached out and squeezed his hand, “You’ve both been obvious if that makes you feel any better.” 

“It doesn’t.” Courfeyrac told her flatly and Cosette laughed

“You’ll be fine. You’ll both be fine. All three of you will.” 

“There is no  _ three of us _ .” 

Cosette smiled, a little sadly, “the timing is terrible but you two are going to pick what's best for all three of you, I know that. Maybe you’ll put dating on hold until she's older, maybe you won't, you  _ do _ have more baby sitters than necessary. But already you’re putting Lilou first and that's the most important thing.” 

“You’ll feel better once you actually talk to him. We’ll make sure you have a moment before you leave tonight.  _ If _ you decide to actually come home tonight.” 

“You know what, you’re really mean.” Courfeyrac teased with an over-pronounced pout but then shook like he was physically brushing his worry off and sighed, “It was just the not knowing that has me worried. But. Okay. I’m good. ” 

Bahorel’s voice rang out in the hall and Courfeyrac turned like he was going to escape out the window. 

“No, I’m not.” 

Combeferre stopped him by handing him Lilou. Courfeyrac turned around just in time to see the door open and Bahorel’s father immediately started crying at the sight of his granddaughter. Bahorel watched as Courfeyrac brought her over and carefully handed her off as his mother clung to his arm, dragging him over to look at her. After making the transfer, Courfeyrac retreated back to the kitchen to stand between his friends. Combeferre, who really was on fire today, glanced down at him. 

“You’re being uncharacteristically skittish.” 

“You didn’t see me when my oldest cousin had her first kid. I was twelve and I cried when I held her in the hospital. Babies are a big deal.” 

“I think you’re worried they’re going to go back to Rébénacq.” Cosette said quietly and Courfeyrac actually had to step away because god  _ damn _ , Cosette. “Or that they won’t need you as much with them here.” 

Courfeyrac retreated into the kitchen and she followed him, “at the end of the day it’s not about me so I have to deal with this on my own. I can’t let it worry him.” 

“Promise you’ll talk to me though?” they both spoke in whispers and Combeferre still stood in the doorway, as Courfeyrac watched him, he smiled and gave a small thumbs up, “at the very least, maybe I can help you have better timing.” 

“Okay, _I_ wasn’t the one who had to go and stab me right when they walked in the door.” 

Cosette laughed, “come have dinner with Marius and me this week, okay? You haven’t for a like a month now and I think Marius is starting to worry that you’re mad at him for moving out.” 

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes fondly, “of course I'm not but okay, if you promise to make that ginger lemon soup again.” 

“Deal. Ready to go back out?” 

Courfeyrac smiled and led the way into the living room. Bahorel was talking to his father, who still hadn’t relinquished Lilou, his arm around Combeferre’s shoulder like he was showing him off. His mother didn’t look up from Lilou, who had her hand wrapped around her finger. 

“This is Cosette and Courfeyrac.” Bahorel introduced, “Cosette’s the one who made the curtains for the weird ass window in the bedroom and Courfeyrac’s the one who broke my arm sledding two years ago.” 

“Excuse me,” he gasped, offended, as his father and Cosette laughed. 

“It’s nice to meet you two. Bahorel’s told us all about the work you do in the city.” 

“Did he also--” Courfeyrac began but Bahorel interrupted him with a shush and Lilou interrupted  _ him _ by wailing loudly. Bahorel scooped her up, “she’s probably hungry.” He and his father went off into the kitchen. Courfeyrac kind of thought Bahorel just wanted to show off the bottles and formula. Someone had gotten him a little bottle drying rack and it made the kitchen look very ‘legit’. If Bahorel thought it looked  _ legit _ now, wait until Joly and Grantaire put the baby proofing latches on the cabinets. They were waiting for him to go out and then they were putting them on and not telling him how they work. Personally, Courfeyrac thought Bahorel was just going to wail that they doomed him to starvation. That, or he wasn’t even going to notice seeing as Courfeyrac had brought dinner over the majority of the week already.

Courfeyrac picked up the discarded travel bags by the door and Marie, with one of the chocolate croissants in her hand, walked over to him, “You must be Luc.” Courfeyrac was caught off guard for a moment--he thought introductions had already been done but she must have been completely distracted by her granddaughter. 

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand but she pulled him into a hug instead. 

“Thank you for helping my son with my grandbaby.  _ Grandbaby _ . Can you imagine?” 

“My oldest niece is two and my parents still sometimes have to take a moment.”

She smiled and then took him by the elbow and guided him into the bedroom, “I need to ask you a couple of things and I need you to be honest with me.” 

Courfeyrac didn’t look back at the others but he was pretty sure he could hear Combeferre’s amused whispering. He dropped their bags on the far side of the bed so they would be out of the way for now and nodded, “of course.” 

“How is he?” She frowned and took another bite of the croissant.

“Honestly, mostly tired but the most I saw him worry was when he called you two to tell you. He didn’t know how you’d react.” 

“At least he didn’t have a list of bullet points this time.” She took a bite of the croissant, “or did he?” 

“No, he just sort of called you and told you.” 

“And how’s he dealing with this? Did you meet the mother? Is she going to come back into the picture?”

Courfeyrac sat down on the bed and she leaned against the dresser, looking at the crib and the stuffed animals inside it, “I don’t think so. Bahorel said she was pretty adamant about not being able to take care of a kid.” 

“And...legally?”

“She signed away all her custody rights and--I haven’t looked over the papers personally yet but they were passed around and everyone seemed fine with them. I can grab them for you.” 

“You studied pre-law correct?” Courfeyrac nodded and she nodded back, glancing out the window, “will you be willing to sit down with me and explain them?” 

“Yeah, of course. I can get Enjolras and Marius too. They’re both still enrolled in Law school. Marius is actually studying family law.” 

She nodded, satisfied, “And the bakery?” 

“Joly and Musichetta are taking control for a while. I think Éponine and Feuilly are helping out more as well? There were some favors being traded around at one point?” 

“I’m glad he has you all.” 

“We’re glad we have him too.” 

Bahorel poked his head in, looking suspicious as to what they were getting up to. “Hey, Courf, could you make that patates au vin recipe you made for Feuilly’s birthday? Dad’s a vegetarian.” 

“I’ll run to to the store and--” 

“I’ll have Enjolras and Feuilly do it, I can bribe them with dinner.” he vanished and Courfeyrac turned to Marie. 

“Okay, so obviously he’s a bit overwhelmed but I really think he’s going to be fine.”

Marie smiled, she looked impossibly  _ fond _ of all things but, with Lilou it was hard to be anything else, “oh, before I forget, I brought some of Bahorel’s old things from the attic.” 

She went over to the bags and opened one, digging through haphazardly packed clothes and toiletries (at least Courfeyrac knew where Bahorel had gotten his terrible packing skills from now).  She emerged victorious, holding a worn octopus, a lion and an alarmingly magenta blanket. Courfeyrac had absolutely nothing to say about the blanket because it was so  _ Bahorel _ . She led him into the living room where Bahorel sat up on the couch in alarm. 

“Where did you find those?” 

“I kept them for you.” 

Cosette sighed, a small smile on her face and Combeferre caught his eye, raising his eyebrows at the blanket. Courfeyrac was pretty sure Bahorel had pants that color somewhere in his closet. 

Marie tucked the octopus and lion into the swing with Lilou and then tucked the blanket around her, then she pulled out her phone, “have you spoken to your brother yet?” 

Bahorel’s guilty look said it for him. His mother nodded like she expected as much and honestly, given her tone, Courfeyrac was pretty sure she had called his brother immediately to see if both her sons had kept this from her.

“I’m sending this to him and I’m not going to write anything.” 

“Maman.” Bahorel groaned but after a small photoshoot, she was holding the phone up and pressing send proudly. Five minutes later, Bahorel’s phone was ringing. 

“Richard,” he answered, “No stop screaming. Holy fuck. If you’d shut up for a second I’d tell you.” He went outside and didn’t return for twenty minutes. 

“So?” Jacques asked when he finally came back inside. 

“He wants to come visit too.” 

“Good.” 

Bahorel sighed dramatically and collapsed onto the couch next to Courfeyrac. 

Marie went over to her husband and they were distracted by Lilou until she went down for a nap. Then she went into the bedroom and came out with several photo albums. No wonder the bags had been so heavy. 

“Maman don’t.” Bahorel whispered but pulled over extra chairs from the kitchen so everyone could crowd around and look as she showed off her sons. They passed a couple hours just trading the most embarrassing stories they could think of and Bahorel actually fell asleep on Courfeyrac at one point for an impressive 45 minutes. The only reason Courfeyrac didn’t nod off as well was because of one, the coffee, and two, he didn’t trust Combeferre and Cosette at  _ all _ . Who knew what kind of stories they would tell without Bahorel and Courfeyrac awake to defend themselves.  


Shortly after Courfeyrac woke Bahorel with a laughing fit (Marie had told the story of the first time he broke his arm--he had fallen being chased by an angry flock of chickens), Feuilly and Enjolras arrived with a large grocery bag and Marie swooped over to them. She was absolutely loving meeting her sons friends. Courfeyrac was pretty sure she had a list going and was mentally checking them off as they appeared. 

Marie began interrogating Feuilly about the bakery as she fed Lilou and so Courfeyrac slipped into the kitchen to start making dinner. He dumped the potatoes into the sink as someone walked in behind him. At first he thought it was Combeferre coming to help but then arms wrapped around his waist and Bahorel rested his chin on his shoulder. 

“You here to help?” 

He shrugged and instead leaned on the counter next to him, Courfeyrac handed him a peeler and he silently got to work. 

Courfeyrac was honestly offended at the incredulous look Bahorel shot him as he whispered, “My parents love you?” 

“Your dad said we have the same kind of toothbrush and i didn’t know how to say it’s Bossuet’s. So I think he thinks--” 

Bahorel rolled his eyes and threw a potato into the pot so that it splashed everywhere, “Your toothbrush is in the shower.” 

“Oh. Right.” 

Bahorel laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh, Maman’s invited Bossuet, Joly and ‘Chetta over for dessert. She facetimed them when we were in the car. She tried to get them to come for dinner but they can’t.” That left Marius, Jehan, Éponine and Grantaire. Holy shit she was impressive. Sometimes  _ he _ couldn’t see all this friends in such a short time frame. 

“Are they bringing dessert?”

“That’s the reason she demanded they come.” 

“Excellent. Your mom’s not allowed to leave.” 

“Did you see the size of their bag? I don’t think they’re planning to.” 

Courfeyrac glanced over to Bahorel and smiled when he saw him smiling absentmindedly as he continued to peel potatoes. Eventually Jacques came in to help. 

They all squeezed in the living room for dinner, during which Feuilly thought it was  _ hilarious _ to put on the video he and Grantaire made to document their completely  _ epic _ Pride week at Uni. It featured Courfeyrac and Combeferre going shot for shot in a lineup of rainbow shots and Bahorel singing karaoke in the background. It was vaguely mortifying because he and Bahorel kept glancing to each other and grinning like idiots. Courfeyrac thought he had been subtle not  _ this  _ obvious. He only condolence was that Bahorel seemed to be going through the same epiphany, if his embarrassed groans into his shoulder were anything to go by. 

Courfeyrac got up to get another cup of coffee, Bahorel was frowning at him and the guilt of that alone made him switch to a herbal tea. When he went back he laughed at Enjolras who looked vaguely uncomfortable with Lilou asleep in his arms. “You can go put her down if you want?” 

“I don’t want to wake her.” he said quietly, nevermind ABBA was currently coming twice as loud from the TV. 

“She’s bonding with her uncle, leave them alone!” Bahorel frowned. 

Courfeyrac echoed his expression and then squeezed back in between them on the couch. Bahorel took his tea and so Courfeyrac curled up next to Enjolras and shut his eyes.  

“Don’t you fall asleep on me too.” 

“I’ve had so much coffee today I could go organize the back room of the food pantry right now this second by myself.” 

Bahorel laughed, “I would pay good money to see that.” 

Courfeyrac didn’t open his eyes, “You have her education to think about.” 

Bahorel didn’t say anything but he could feel the glare and smiled. Jacques whispered something that made Marie laugh. 

“Oh Feuilly,” Courfeyrac said, opening his eyes, “I had forgotten. Grantaire said something very interesting the other night.” 

“Don’t.” Enjolras murmured and Courfeyrac glanced to Combeferre but he looked wholly uninvolved, watching the TV with a bemused expression as Marius attempted to dance. 

“Grantaire says may interesting things.” Bahorel sent him a glare and pointedly looked in his parents direction as he handed back the tea. Courfeyrac took a sip and completely ignored it. 

“This one was particularly interesting. About why he crashed over here the other night instead of going back home.” 

“Oh,” Feuilly laughed, realizing what he meant, and since Combeferre glanced at the two of them, looking a little lost, Courfeyrac decided that Feuilly and Jehan were sleeping together. Mystery solved. Feuilly shrugged, “I’ll be sure to keep you updated.” 

“That’s all I ask.” 

“You’re so nosy.” Enjolras whispered and Courfeyrac glanced down to see that Lilou was awake. 

“Oh, hello. How was your nap? Are you tired from screaming half the night too?” 

She tilted her head and then smiled. He elbowed Enjolras who went rigidly still, and then he waved Marie and Jacques over. They both cooed and Bahorel smiled at him. Courfeyrac leaned back into him. 

His parents hovered over them until Lilou’s smile faded and they went back to watching their son’s friends made asses out of themselves. Jehan was currently wrapped up in french flag bunting with  _ something _ on his head that was maybe a centerpiece or a wall decoration or...maybe a bowl filled with flowers? 

On the screen, Jehan scrunched his nose up in confusion and Courfeyrac suddenly remembered something and gently hit Bahorel on the shoulder, “Oh I have that ugly baby picture of Enjolras! It’s on my phone--Feuilly--can you grab it?” 

“Why do you have an ugly baby picture of me?” 

“You called Lilou ugly!”

Enjolras blushed heavily, “I did not!” he protested was saved by someone slamming into the front door and the knob jiggling a couple times. 

“Why can’t Joly ever open your door?” Courfeyrac asked and Bahorel just shrugged. 

“Cosette told me that Lilou was smiling for you!” Joly said the moment he got the door open and he made a beeline for her. He smiled charmingly at Marie and Jacques and then looked down at her very sternly. “Madame, I thought we had a discussion the other day that you were--” his voice broke off and Courfeyrac glanced up to see tears in his eyes and a smile on her face. 

“Oh god.” Musichetta whispered, “here we go. Do you all want dessert now?” 

“Yes, please, dear!” Marie smiled and Enjolras got up to go get plates and forks as he handed Lilou to Joly. 

Musichetta nodded and placed a carrier with a beautiful mille-feuille inside it on the coffee table. 

“Who knew single dads were your thing huh?” Bossuet greeted and Courfeyrac turned to glare at Combeferre and Cosette both. Surprisingly it was Enjolras, coming back with the dishes, who blushed a little guiltily. His friends playing telephone with his love life meant he and Bahorel didn’t have to make any confused announcements at least. 

Bahorel just wrapped an arm around him and kissed him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Bahorel and Lilou move in with Courfeyrac about a month later when Courfeyrac still can’t find someone to replace Marius and it starts to feel ridiculous that one man is living in a three bedroom flat. Things are super weird for like two solid weeks then Marie has a talk with them and they start dating for real. Marie and Jacques take Bahorel's old apartment. Courfeyrac adopts Lilou when she throws a fit when she's five because she found out her Papa isn't legally her papa when they had to get her Dad’s permission for him to pick her up from school. There’s papers thrown around and a tantrum during which she calls a terrified Marius to remind her of some of the legal phrases. Enjolras is there and is so proud of his little tiny lawyer niece he takes her for ice cream. She also helps her Papa propose in the Most dramatic fashion. In Disneyland. They're almost kicked out. 
> 
> Prouvaire’s Austen quote is from Persuasion. And also technically my Jane-a-day diary.


End file.
